Slow Beer

Friday, May 28, 2010

SLOWBEER'S NEWS, REVIEWS & ARRIVALS - AIBA EDITION

As many of you would know, last week was a big one & it has been followed up by another. It was great to see so many local & international beer lovers in town & even better that so many paid our humble little store a visit! This week we will focus on some of the big winners from last weeks Australian International Beer Awards, many of which we have been praising for some time & no doubt their recognition is long overdue. We also have the arrival of some excellent & interesting new beers from our Japanese friends at Baird.CHAMPION EXHIBITORNOGNE O (Nor)A really pleasant surprise seeing these guys get one of the biggest awards on offer. I’ve long been a fan of their range due to the fact that they nail every style they attempt. Their beers are excellently made & its evident in how beautifully presented they are in the glass. A feature that I feel is sometimes overlooked by craft brewers. Even more so when you consider how far the beers travel before even landing on our shelves. Below we have highlighted some of their standouts.

Imperial Stout 500ml $16.00You’d think given the ever-cool Norsk climate they’d produce some killer stouts, well you'd be right! This Imperial weighs in at 9%, which is perhaps more in line with the traditional examples & not quite as over the top as some (looking at you mikkeller!). The result is a mass of dark roasted malt that brings plenty of bittersweet coffee notes & molasses as well as a touch of dark stewed fruits. Another beer from these guys, that while very robust has a lot of finesse.

Imperial Brown Ale 500ml $14.50Really cool beer this, which you don’t see produced too often. A more modern take on a traditional English brown ale but still in keeping with the hallmarks of the style. There is plenty to like here, caramel & roasted malt are seamlessly interwoven giving a nice bready/doughy character with some chocolate & nutty notes as well. Elevated abv gives this beer a nice little punch on the finish & reminds you your not just drinking a boring old Newcy Brown!CHAMPION STOUTMikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel 500ml $32.00With the vast number of styles & microbreweries around the world, its always going to be hard producing something that is new & unique without being too crazy. Arguably this does both! Weasel Coffee (Kopie Luwak) has been renowned for some time as one of the most obscure & expensive coffees in the world. Known for its highly aromatic, yet low bitterness character. It achieves this unique balance by way of its “natural” production.

So how does this actually translate to the beer? Funnily enough, quite well & its easy to distinguish this from your run of the mill coffee beer. Firstly, the base beer is an imperial oatmeal stout, so we’ve got the usual bitter-sweet dark roasted malt notes & while the coffee addition is quite overt, often with these beers the bitter roast character can be harsh & astringent. With this, it is robust with plenty of flavor but has the slightest touch of syrupy sweetness to balance. While the bitterness on the finish comes from the dark roasted malt rounding out the palate. Being that I'm not a coffee connoisseur its pretty hard to portray its unique taste with words, so I highly recommend trying it for yourself. Its uniqueness in production & taste is undeniable.

FYI: Tasting & judging at AIBA is done blind, so for those thinking this beer is just an overpriced gimmick (a natural assumption until you’ve tried it) clearly the AIBA disagree!

OTHER WINNERS OF MULTIPLE MEDALSIf you didn’t already have a reason to check out the beers on our shelves from these excellent local producers, a heap of gold, silver & bronze medals should easily sway you!

FEATURE BREWERYBAIRD (JAP)Ok, so we’ve definitely featured these guys before but we are at it again promoting our spectacular new arrivals from this great brewery! Our first shipment was full of beers from their regular range, while this second lot has some brilliant & unique seasonal offerings.West Coast Wheatwine 650ml $20.00A heap of malted wheat (60%) is used in the brewing process to give a dangerous degree of quenching drinkability to a brew of this strength. Inspired by US west coast beers & hopped to the hilt with those very citrussy & piney hop varieties. 9.5%abvDark Sky Imperial Stout 650ml $19.00Robust American-style imperial stout with layers of dark roasted malt flavors & US hop bitterness on the finish. 7.6%abv

Temple Garden Yuzu Ale 650ml $19.50Yuzu peel & juice used during the brewing process. Yuzu is similar to lemon, however with less acidity/sourness. The brew does however have a touch of citric zesty sourness on the finish. 5.7%abvKurofune Porter 355ml $10.00English style porter with bitter chocolate & coffee notes from the array of dark roasted malts employed. 6%abv

Thursday, May 20, 2010

SLOWBEERS TASTINGS, DEALS & EVENTS!

This week marks one of the biggest on the beer geek calendar, with both the Beer & Brewer Expo & Australian International Beer Awards taking place. In conjunction with these official events, good beer bars & pubs around Melbourne will be abuzz with numerous local & international brewers & industry types having made the trek to our very own beer Mecca!

BEER OF THE WEEKBREWDOG 5AM SAINT 330ml $4.00(4pk $14.40/case 24 $79.00)For me, autumn & the cooler weather certainly signals a shift to maltier beers. That said, its always hard moving away from my beloved hop-bombs & I know that many of our customers agree. This offering from Brewdog is certainly an excellent compromise. Its arrival a few weeks ago was somewhat overshadowed by the number of other crazy Brewdog beers & much like those, this one still managed to disappear off the shelves very quickly. So its back again & this time I’m letting everyone know how great it is!

Stylistically this brew is an amber ale, which to be honest is nothing overly knew. Its hallmarks are a good old whack of crystal & munich malts giving a nice, rich malt backbone & some subtle caramel/toffee notes. Where this beer is set apart is in its rigorous hopping. Kiwi Nelson Sauvin & US Amarillo in the kettle give a nice citrus fruit character, while dry hopping with cascade, simcoe & centennial adds that trademark American pine & bitter grapefruit finish. This beer is delicious, enough said! FYI: More crazy beers arriving from brewdog soon: Sink! The Bismark, Abstrakt 1, Tactical Nuclear Penguin & New Hardcore DIPA

BREAKFAST BEERS ON TASTING!To get those acquainted with beers on offer below, we will be having them on tasting this Friday 21st May from 5pm.SPECIAL BRAKFAST BEER DEAL!The international flavor of the week, coupled with Beermen TV’s Hair of The Dog Breakfast at Beerdeluxe on Saturday has prompted us to run an great deal on some brilliant breakfast appropriate beers!

As you may know the beers included are truly world-class & its is very rare (actually never!) that we have the opportunity to run them at such crazy prices!BUY A MIX OF ANY 4 OF THE FOLLOWING FOR $58 (SAVE MAX $10)+ YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE A SOUTHERN TIER PINT GLASS FREE! (WHILE STOCKS LAST)Southern Tier Oat (RRP $17)11% Imperial stout brewed with copious amounts of oats, giving a thick & rich texture. Skip the oats for breakfast, this has everything you need to get going for the day!

Southern Tier Mokah (RRP $17)Quite possibly the best stout I have ever had! This 11% imperial stout is brewed with both bittersweet Belgian chocolate & Jamaican roasted coffee. The robust coffee notes are balanced perfectly & somewhat mellowed by the subtle sweetness of the chocolate.

Rogue Chocolate Stout (RRP $15)Rolled oats & chocolate malt in a beer is about as breakfast appropriate as it gets right? Wrong! The inclusion of Dutch bittersweet chocolate means this is packed with flavour balanced by a creamy palate.Rogue Mocha Porter (RRP $15)I often refer to a porter as a jr version of a stout, less bittersweet roasted coffee-like notes & more smooth, velvety chocolate notes. This has both in spades, hence the name.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (RRP $15)Crazy sort of beer but deliciously drinkable. Certainly a more modern take on a brown ale, the use of hazelnut nectar brings out the rich nutty character & balances the malt sweetness. This is begging for a pecan pie.

BIG, BOLD BARREL AGED TASTING!The response thus far has been great, so much so that the session is now full! For those who missed out this time, rest assured there will be plenty more in the future. If you are keen to partake in future events, please be quick as it appears they will be very popular.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

SLOWBEER NEWS, UPCOMING EVENTS & TASTINGS!

Its been a quiet couple of weeks as far as new arrivals are concerned, however it has given us a chance to plan some big things for the next few months!

BIG, BOLD BARREL AGED TASTING!We’ve been promising some crazy tastings for a while now &given the sudden (but long overdue) onset of cool weather we thought we’d jump in the deep end!Beers on tasting include:

When: Wednesday 2nd June from 7PMCost: $25.00 to try ALL beers+ Attendees receive 10% DISCOUNT on any purchase of beers on tasting that nightIF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING PLEASE EMAIL US, SO THAT WE CAN CONFIRM NUMBERS ASAP.ALESTARS AT THE LOCAL TAPHOUSEWe’ve long been admirers of the taphouse & having dealt with the guys on many occasions know that they are extremely passionate about local craft beer. Next Tuesday will promise to be one of the most anticipated (not just by me!) Alestars sessions ever! Arguably one of the country’s best craft brewers, Brendan Varis of Feral Brewing in WA is heading to the tap house with 3 crazy beers, brewed specifically for this event. We won’t say too much more other than you MUST be there!

For more info: http://www.costanzobrewing.com/Brewing%20Courses.htmBEERMEN TV’S HAIR OF THE DOG BREAKFASTTodd, Damien & Mark from BeermentTV will be hosting a breakfast with a difference. Join the lads on Saturday 22 May at Beerdeluxe for a beer breakfast! With this trio running the show, the event will no doubt be a heap of fun, with plenty of great food & breakfast appropriate beer to be enjoyed.

In getting behind the guys & this great event, we will be offering a beerific door prize for one lucky attendee. Rest assured it will feature some truly brilliant rewards, fitting for a beer geek’s breakfast!

For info & registration visit: https://www.rsvpmenow.com/rsvpbeta/?id=21019SLOWBEER2GO IS A GO...WELL ALMOSTSo we may have jumped the gun a bit in announcing our growler concept a couple of months ago, however after a slight delay we will soon be ready to go! Our slowbeer branded growlers have just been ordered from the states & will be on the water in a matter of days. Expect the beer to be flowing & growlers filling in about 1 months time!

AMONGST THE VINES – A BEER & FOOD JOURNEY OF BELGIUM 2010Two of Slowbeer’s favorite friends, Ben Hayes (Amongst the vines travel) & Ben Kraus (Bridge Rd Brewers Beechworth) will be leading a beer odyssey of epic proportions that is not to be missed! For info: http://www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/news.html